The Foxes Club
The Foxes Club began in 2007 by organising games and activities in a London park. It’s now a market leader in delivering community-based children’s play programmes, holiday camps and football academies.
Following an exceptional period of growth, and with ambitious franchise plans in the pipeline, we needed to help them clarify their proposition and create a brand that stood for something beyond their practical offering.
Challenge
One brand, multiple audiences
The Foxes Club (previously The Little Foxes Club) offer play activities for kids, including football, tennis and rugby. They also facilitate holiday camps and kids' parties. Foxes FC is the football academy side of the business that has been leading the grassroots game since 2009.
From a customer's perspective, this brand architecture proved confusing. With two different websites and identities that talked to very different audiences and age groups, it wasn’t clear that these two offerings were part of the same brand.
We needed unite the brand to clarify the offer and make it compelling to kids at both ends of the age spectrum. We also needed to ensure the brand would resonate with parents and B2B audiences such as schools and local councils, who are looking for trust, expertise and a proven track record.
Insight
Taking play seriously
In order to unite the brand we needed to find a universal truth that linked all of their offerings.
The Foxes Club has been taking play seriously for over 17 years, with their inherent professionalism and quality of coaching always being central to the offer. The business was founded on the belief that all children should have access to inclusive play activities, and that play can give kids of all ages a great start in life.
We wanted to harness this purpose and enable The Foxes Club to become a beacon for wholesome life-enriching experiences, and make this belief compelling to all their audiences.
Idea
Well Played
Our brand idea is born out of the belief that play isn’t just important for a child’s development, it’s vital.
More than just fun, the ability to play and learn new skills can help social skills, develop confidence and encourage physical and mental well-being.
The idea also leans into sporting vernacular and the language of coaching which enables easy internal buy-in, and can also resonate with kids of all ages.
It’s a promise of quality and trust that communicates their expertise which is key for parents and the B2B audiences.
A naming nuance
To avoid potential confusion to customers, and to enable the brand to feel more cohesive, we adapted the brand name to The Foxes Club.
Dropping the use of 'little' allows the brand to appeal to wider age groups and audiences. It also better suits their status as a leader in the sector.
We made the decision to retain Foxes FC, but repositioned this as a product within the wider Foxes Club offering.
Pride in the badge
Due to the amount of kit produced by The Foxes Club, and the need to be highly visible in all the locations their sessions take place, developing an iconic logo was always going to be key.
We took inspiration from the crests and shields of sports teams and added a Foxes twist. The new logo informs a simple but dynamic visual language that has the flexibility to be adapted for Foxes FC.
Cute meets cool
A key requirement of the new identity was that it needed to appeal to kids of all ages; cute enough for toddlers (and their parents) but cool enough for teens. For the older kids we used more confident imagery and the darker colours of the brand palette, as well as adding more attitude into the messaging which is all set in upper-case. For the younger kids, we used the lighter and brighter colours within the palette, pairing this with fun, playful imagery and messaging set using more of the quirky lower-case.
Choosing the right agency during such an important time for our business was one of the most significant decisions I’ve made, especially since we’d never gone through a branding process before. We spoke to a number of agencies, but as soon as we met with Thisaway, we knew we’d found the right partner. Their enthusiasm for the project really stood out, and their ability to guide us through the process and get everyone on board was really valuable to us. We couldn’t be happier with our new brand, and "Well Played" aligns perfectly with our business and where we want to go. They truly did a fantastic job!
Project disciplines
Brand Strategy, brand identity, photography, illustration, character design, animation, copywriting, brand rollout, brand guidelines.
Project collaborators
Portrait photography: Emma Tunbridge
Videography: George Hopkins
Illustration: Sheri Dykes
Animation: James Dunlevey
Website: Mud